Have you ever had a bold new haircut or splurged on a stylish new outfit only for it to go completely amiss by your other half?
You’re not alone. In fact, there’s a scientific term for it – change blindness – that scientists have been studying for decades.
According to the theory, women can change things up with zero notice given by their men. Hoping to put the theory to the test, River Island set up different date scenarios, from a long term relationship to a first date, to see whether the guys would notice if their partner completely changed their outfit.
Using female actresses and their unwitting other halves, the team asked the girls to gradually change their ensemble, swapping out clothes and accessories throughout the rendezvous to see if the men noticed – and only one man out of the group of five did.
Laura Reeves, from Kent, went on a date with Luke Holland, who she found on Tinder the morning of the date.
She changed her outfit an impressive four times, including swapping her top, jacket, shoes, accessories and even jeans without him noticing at all.
Janelle Wynter, 21, from East London, went on a date with Robbie Nzvzi, her boyfriend of five years.
She changed five times – swapping her T-shirt, earrings, bag, shoes and even her skirt under the table. While Robbie didn’t notice four of the changes, he did spot her swapping her skirt under the table.
Speaking about the experiment, Janelle said: ‘Working on this project helped me prove the fact that my boyfriend doesn’t pay as much attention to me as he thinks he does. He didn’t notice any of my changes! Only at the very end when I switched from a black leather mini skirt to a beige suede midi skirt at the table in front of his very eyes! Men ay, what are they like!?’.
River Island got female actresses to change at least three elements of their outfit during their date with their unwitting other halves to see if they noticed. Helena Mitchell went on a date with Rich Lomas and changed three times
Janelle Wynter, 21, from East London, went on a date with Robbie Nzvzi, her boyfriend of five years and swapped her skirt under the table, which he noticed
The team asked the girls to gradually change their ensemble to see if the men noticed
Yasmine Alice went on a date with Janis Krumins and he didn’t notice any of her changes – despite one being from a skirt to jeans
Helena Mitchell went on a date with Rich Lomas and changed three times. Helena’s date Rich questioned her outfit change once she completely changed outfits, but she denied it so he didn’t push it.
Rhonwen Cash, from Cambridge, went on a date with Oli Burkhill – her former housemate’s friend – and changed just three times.
Rhonwen’s date Oli looked confused and went to question her when she asked him what colour her trousers were, but never outwardly said ‘they’re not the same trousers’
Yasmine Alice went on a date with Janis Krumins, her boyfriend of around six months who she met on Tinder; he didn’t notice any of her changes.
‘Janis is the kind of guy who doesn’t really believe in owning too many clothes, he is a practical guy and he never approves of my shopping sprees. No wonder he didn’t realise the extremely obvious outfit changes I had!’
Change blindness is a phenomenon that occurs when a person is unable to notice visual changes in their environment, despite the fact that they are often rather obvious – and most of the men failed to notice the changes
Laura Reeves, from Kent, went on a date with Luke Holland. She changed her outfit an impressive four times without him noticing at all
Helena changed in the toilet with the help of an assistant